The point to salvage from Obama’s speech is that history never really departs, and the headlines today are part of a story stretching back to Mohammed in the Seventh century, of which the Crusades and the Inquisition are chapters.

Syria continues to burn and the explosions and killings in Iraq go on without cease. The Greeks seem intent on pulling the pillars of Europe down with them, and Spain seems interested in following suit.

President Obama's Islamic State strategy is to create a vast coalition with an Arab/Kurdish vanguard and America leading from behind with air power. Since it was launched, ISIS has doubled its Syrian domain.